BIO

Sarah Hollenbeck is an essayist whose work grapples with sexuality, femininity, physical disability, and gaze--often exploring how we perceive ourselves, how we are perceived by others, and the tender space in between. She earned her MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Northwestern University. Her essay "A Goldmine" won the Grand Prize in the 2013 Dogwood Literary Contest, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and received a Notable Mention in Best American Essays 2014. Her essay "As Long As It's Healthy" was excerpted on Shondaland and appeared in the anthology, NASTY WOMEN published by Picador in 2017. Sarah is also the co-owner of Women & Children First bookstore, one of the last remaining feminist bookstores in the country.

INSPIRED BY

My family, my face, my feminism, my colleagues, cognitive dissonance, sad songs, long walks

EXPLORING:

A memoir in essays exploring loss, denial, and erasure. I'll be examining my mother's death, how her loving and well-meaning erasure of my disability tunneled into the denial of the cancer that led to her sudden death.

INSPIRATION FOR PROJECT:

My mother, my disability, my bookstore